Thanks all, really appreciate it.

We had to get a hoof on to nail down flights, so these are now booked. Into Atlanta 5th Sept, out of NOLA 19th Sept. Got a great bargain on the Atlanta flight hence why we went for this over Charlotte. I'm also worried about hurricane season, but we chose Sept to allow us more time to save up.

So I think we'll spend 1 maybe 2 nights in Atlanta max, then head up to the Blue Ridge or Great Or Great Smokies (tips welcome) for 3 days and rent a log cabin if poss. (The reason I brought up whether the trip to Charleston etc was worth it is I read on another forum that the drive between Atlanta and Charleston is rather boring, just pine trees). Then probably in the general direction of Macon – Montgomery – Pensacola - + another stopoff (Hattiesburg?) - 2-3 days in New Orleans - London

OR

Atlanta – Smokies/ Blue Ridge etc as before - 403 Montgomery - 65 Mobile – at Baton Rouge take 61 – Natchez – Vickburg/Jackson – down 55 for 2-3 days in New Orleans – London

I'm so grateful for all your tips. Shout if you ever need tips on England or Europe, happy to help.

A couple thoughts on the first part in the Smokies region, and note well that I haven't visited the region before, so I'm just going off research. They may or may not be things to consider in this region:

-if you like historic mansions, one must-see in the Asheville area is the Biltmore Estate.

-Cherokee is just outside the Smokies and has about a day's worth of tribal-related attractions.

-Pigeon Forge has lots of arguably cheesy Disneyland-style options to see (Dollywood, etc.).

I hate to say it, but your going to the Smokies and then down toward Montgomery and Mississippi is really sort of around your thumb. Totally different directions.
I think you are trading one "boring ride" for another without a real stunning destination
The Atlanta start makes it difficult, but I understand economy. I wouldn't really spend a lot of time there--although the Heard Museum is certainly worth the time.
Having just driven from Charlotte to Pensacola across Georgia and Alabama, just a LONG drive.
I have been staring at the map. I wonder if you would consider another flight from Atlanta to Charleston--Delta "might" fly it direct.
Rent your car there, spend a few days. Go to Savannah for a day, and then head across the Florida panhandle to NOLA.
OR just drive from Atlanta to Charleston in a day.
I think the Smokies are the outlier--and of course, maybe Charleston.
But the distances and places in Georgia are just long interstates--or very slow secondary roads, with not a lot to see.
In Montgomery there is a truly wonderful and memorable monument to the civil rights movement
IN Birmingham there is a really wonderful restaurant--Frank Stitt's Highlands Grill. We drove to Birmingham just to eat there on our way to Pensacola. 5 star--make reservations.
You might enjoy searching for a couple of books about Southern foods--one is Southern Belly by John T. Edge. another might be one of Jane and Michael Stern's Road Food books. Good places to eat.
Not too far from Atlanta is Highlands NC which is in the Georgia/NC mountains and is beautiful country.
Do not bother to think about Pigeon Forge-or even Gatlinburg. Cherokee has "some" Indian museum that is authentic and good, but largely the town is a casino, and still Indian "schtick" unfortunately,from many years of just barely making it for that tribe.
The Biltmore House IS the largest house in the US--it takes a day to do it, I think. it IS a castle.
Hope we can help you work this out. This is only "my" opinion, of course, and others will weigh in.
I would devote a few more days to NOLA personally. There are some day trips you could do from there, if you wanted to see more of the Mississippi.
Maybe count up the days IN cities/places, and then you'll know what you can do comfortably in between.

The Atlanta-Charleston drive isn't very exciting, no, but it's not horrible. I think it should really boil down to whether you want to experience Charleston, not whether a 5-6 hour drive is exciting. I'd absolutely pick driving to Charleston over Montgomery and Mobile.

Renting a cabin for a few days in the Smokies would be lovely. Whichever direction you end up going, I'd consider a flight in between some of your destinations - it would give you more flexibility and less time on the interstate. You could do something along these lines:

5 Sept: arrive in Atlanta
6-7: Atlanta
8: drive to Asheville area (3.5 hours per Google Maps)
9-10: Asheville
11: drive to Charleston (4.5 hours)
12-13: Charleston
14: fly to New Orleans
15-18: New Orleans
19: fly to London

That gets you mountains, Southern history, and the beach, and saves you a lot of driving. If you thought the drive from Atlanta to Charleston was boring, the drive around lower Alabama will not be any better! That all, of course, assumes that you were visiting Natchez, Vicksburg, Montgomery, etc just out of convenience.

If you do look into flying, Southwest is the closest the US has to a budget airline like EasyJet. Their prices aren't always cheaper than the big ones (Delta, etc), but worth checking for sure. If you did the above itinerary and used Southwest, you'd have to change planes in either Chicago or Houston, but it's still half the travel time of driving direct (assuming flights go okay).

As far as hurricanes, no one can predict what will happen. Buy trip insurance if you want to and plan to enjoy yourselves!

Oh no, have I made a huge mistake flying into Atlanta? I realise we'd be going back on ourselves with regards the mountains. But we really do want to see them. I totally see the logic of flying into Charlotte but don't think I can change it now (also a flight from Atlanta/ Ashville to CHS is prohibitively expensive).

I'm open to suggestions.

When all is said and done, in our 14 days, I guess we would like try and cover
- 3 full days in mountains/ national parks
- 3 full days in NOLA
- 2 days in A.N.other city for museums
- 1-2 days relaxing in a beach location, hence Pensacola
- Plus some time just stopping off at picturesque small towns


... and within that we'd like to see/do
* History or museums, particularly on Civil Rights or the Civil War. Your history is so diff to ours.
* Sample authentic Southern food
* Do some outdoors activities e.g rafting, river ride, hike, lake swim
* Feel the Blues! We're not huge Country & Western fans though.
* Potter around small 'genteel' towns and chat to the locals
* Have some beach time. England's beaches are good for umm 1 day in August so we really crave this!
* See weird and wonderful roadside America, E.g I remember once going to the Idaho potato chip museum, or Mitchell Corn Palace when in the NW states.

I apologise for what may come across as an overly or offensively romanticized view of the South. And I'm a hypocrite because I sigh when Americans come to London and ask where the castles are (there aren't any) and if we know Kate Middleton (no)!

But hopefully it gives you the idea of ' the vision' we had in mind.

You could tick several of those things off your list in Charleston. The Civil War started here, the locals are friendly, the food is unbelievable, the beach will be beautiful in September, and we do quirky too .

Do be aware that some towns are not genteel. There are a couple of towns near here that have bad drug problems. So check into it.

It's not a fatal mistake to fly into Atlanta! Don't worry. As a destination itself, it probably has more to offer than Charlotte. You'd just be driving a couple extra hours to Asheville if that's what you decide on. No big deal. Do be prepared for Atlanta traffic, though. It's crazy.

<i>When all is said and done, in our 14 days, I guess we would like try and cover
- 3 full days in mountains/ national parks</i>

Asheville and the surrounding area is great for this.

<i>- 3 full days in NOLA
- 2 days in A.N.other city for museums</i>

I think Atlanta is your best bet for museums.

<i>- 1-2 days relaxing in a beach location, hence Pensacola

... and within that we'd like to see/do
* History or museums, particularly on Civil Rights or the Civil War. Your history is so diff to ours.</i>
Some of the most well known Civil War spots are Charleston, where the war started, and the areas in Mississippi you've noted. The war, of course, took place all over the South, but that makes the "sites" very spread out. If the war was my top interest, I'd go to Charleston. If it's a "would be interested to see" sort of thing, you could find battlefields and the like in a lot of places.

The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis is wonderfully done (it's in the hotel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot), but Memphis will be hard to fit in with the rest of your trip if the beach is a must. MLK lived in Atlanta and there's quite a bit to do with the civil rights movement there, I believe. Birmingham and Montgomery were other cities with importance in the movement, but again, they're hard to fit in with the rest of your plans.

<i>* Sample authentic Southern food</i>
You'll really enjoy this, but be aware - Southern food differs a LOT from place to place! New Orleans has Cajun-influenced food, Charleston has lowcountry dishes (shrimp & grits, lots of rice), and barbecue has three different versions just across the state of North Carolina. Look on Fodor's for restaurant recommendations when you get your itinerary figured out. There's a lot of information here.

<i>* Do some outdoors activities e.g rafting, river ride, hike, lake swim</i>
Asheville will be great for this.

<i>* Feel the Blues! We're not huge Country & Western fans though.</i>
Again, Memphis would be great if this is a top priority for you. Also the Mississippi Delta.

<i>* Potter around small 'genteel' towns and chat to the locals</i>
Asheville will be nice. You might also stop for lunch or something in Greenville, SC on your way from Atlanta, or make a detour to Athens, GA (a Southern university town - in the fall it will be overrun with football excitement, though unfortunately the game the week you'd be in the area is an away game).

So, kind thank you

With all this in mind, what's the best plan for getting from Charleston area to panhandle Florida/ NOLA? If I've understood correctly there's not much worth seeing in between.

I really think the loop from ATlanta to the mountains to charleston, and across the gulf coast to New Orleans will give you a great look at the South, and opportunities to enjoy real southern hospitality and less boring driving. you will flat love charleston.
There is truly great food to be had.

I can't commpletely let the remark about Charlotte and museums go by. Our new Bechtler museum is a world class collection. Our two Mint Museums--one of art and one of Craft + Design are wonderful. We also have the Museum of the New South, and the Harvey B. Gantt museum of African American History.
Y'all come and see!!

Hmmm. As a European traveler, I would do it differently. I assume you want to see things that you would normally not be able to explore in Europe -- ie. your mention of the Deep South.

This is what I would do: Fly into Atlanta, leave for Charleston (depending on what time you arrive of course). It's a five hour plus drive to Charleston. Spend the night in Atlanta if it's late. I frankly don't think there's THAT much to see in Atlanta, and anything mentioned here is eminently skippable. Take the back road to Charleston through Barnwell, stop and have lunch at Miller's Bread Basket (closes at 2) in Blackville. Mennonite cooking with a southern twist. And Blackville is sleepy and VERY southern. Head down to Charleston, going through Walterboro, stop at the Caw Caw center for wildlife etc. That's not a boring drive, and takes about the same amount of time as dreadful I20 and I26 (and is 50 miles shorter).

Spend two days (or more) in Charleston, head to Edisto Beach, where you can rent that cabin in the state park (right by the ocean). Go crabbing in one of the landings, walk/swim on the beach, enjoy the peace and the pelicans (and the whiskey). Head towards Beaufort, do a kayak tour of the ACE basin, head for Savannah. Spend two days in Savannah (that's one of those Holy Mole cities, truly). Then head for New Orleans. Go through Mobile I think -- stop at one of the beaches if it works out timewise.

Onwards towards New Orleans and environs. LOTS to do here. Head back through Montgomery to Atlanta.

While I love the Biltmore, I'm not sure Brits would be as enamoured with it as we are. And the mountains are mostly tall hills, sorry -- they do pale in comparison with those magnificent Western ranges. It's just not very Southern, at least the way I think of it.

I really like birgator's ideas. And he said it better about Biltmore than I--just NOT a fan of that site.
The one problem is it isn't a RT from Atlanta--they leave from NOLA I think.

Yes, that's right, we leave from New Orleans 2 weeks later.

Birgator, you're right though about sussing out what we're looking for, and that Biltmore isn't particularly a 'must see' because we have stately homes ten a penny in the UK. Thanks for your other suggestions which I'll check out now.

I'm still not sure if we have time to see Charleston area as well as MS delta. It's almost a 12 hour drive from Charleston to say, Biloxi no? So we'd have to stop off somewhere to sleep. Worried we're being too ambitious..

This is what the current map looks like! 1,500 in 2 weeks seems an awful lot. And at goodness knows what cost in gas.
http://postimage.org/image/fh16cqvif/

12 hours is nuthin' for an old road warrior like me! I drove from Charleston to Biloxi in about 10 hours. I shaved off some time by getting off the interstate and cutting across Georgia on the back road. Biloxi is nice, and I love the Delta. But Charleston (and I realize I'm biased) will take your breath away. I think you can do it. But it's certainly a very personal choice, and I'm sure you'll love it no matter where you go.

I'm with suewoo - I went to college nine hours from where I grew up. If those are your priority destinations, it's no big thing as long as you only do it once in your two weeks. If you do skip the Biltmore, that gives you an extra day to play with. Maybe make your overnight in Montgomery and see some of the civil rights sites, since that's of interest.

http://visitingmontgomery.com/visit/...hts_audio_tour

Gas will be expensive, though ours here is cheaper than you're used to in the UK. Right now it's around $3.35 per gallon in Nashville where I live (works out to less than one dollar per liter), though that doesn't really tell you anything about what it'll be in September!

Y'all are too kind! The other option is we take a flight from Charleston to gulf Ms/ NOLA to cut out that long drive. But we're looking at $200 each in flights to do that. PS I tried to sweet talk Delta into switching our flight to Charlotte. Didn't work..

I promise you, seeing Charleston (compact and lots to do very acciessibly) will do better than a lot of the delta.
You will LOVE driving along the Gulf. Yes, it will require an overnight--just another "opportunity" to sample the great seafood along there.
You will rent a small car, I'd guess, and your gas costs are not going to be excessive.

Haha! Look y'all! Miss Sarah is sayin' ya'll!

When I made that drive I dropped down to I 10 and went across to Louisiana that way. It wasn't hard. I took 2 days, but it was in spring 2006, the year after Katrina. I wanted to go through Gulfport, the Pass, and Pearlington, so it took me 2 days. Hoo, it was so sad.

I just got back from working in Germany. Gas is more expensive in the EU, but the cars are more efficient. Every time I saw some big honker on the Autobahn I KNEW it was a US citizen, lol. If you can manage with a small car, you can do the trip much cheaper than flying. Just my 2 cents.

Just playing with your trip -- Atlanta to Charleston to Savannah to Mobile to Vicksburg to New Orleans (saves backtracking from the Delta to NOLA) racks up about 1400 miles or about 24 total hours. Your longest leg will be Savannah to Mobile (8 hours or so) but you can stop in Montgomery if there is anything interesting in the Civil Rights movement there, and have lunch... (perhaps someone from Montgomery will chime in). I picked Vicksburg for no other reason than I've heard of it -- Littleman can without a doubt give you lots of suggestion for that area. That will give you an average of six half days of driving four hours or so per day. Plenty of time to leave in the morning and arrive before lunch at the next destination. And it will be Daylight Savings Time still, which means it will be light longer in the evenings.

Gas cost in a reasonably small vehicle will be less than $200 total at today's average of about $3.35 a gallon. You will be traveling in an area where gas is still fairly reasonable (that's right now, who knows by September). If you have a smartphone, download GasBuddy for lowest prices on your route.

Make no mistake that it can/will be hot and steamy, not necessarily in that order. That's why I'm suggesting beach time before the Delta, and NO last, since that is where you're leaving from AND while hot, there is plenty to do that will give you a break from the heat.

Atlanta-Charleston -- 4 days
Charleston-Savannah --2 days
Savannah-Montgomery-Mobile --2 days
Mobile-Delta region -- 3 days
New Orleans -- 3 days

It may seem that I'm cutting it too short in NOLA for you -- but if you decide you only need two days in the Delta, add to NOLA. Conversely, if you fall in love with the Delta, add another day there. I'm personally fonder of Charleston than NOLA and Savannah to me is not to be missed either.

Thank you again for itinerary suggestions! But we do definitely want to see the smokies/ blue mountains too
that's why I was worried we were trying to see too many places